The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Millennium, #3)

by Stieg Larsson

It was the Greeks who coined the term “Amazon.” The word literally means “without breast.” It is said that in order to facilitate the drawing of a bow, the female’s right breast was removed, either in early childhood or with a red-hot iron after she became an adult. Even though the Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen are said to have agreed that this operation would enhance the ability to use weapons, it is doubtful whether such operations were actually performed. Herein lies a linguistic riddle—whether the prefix “a-” in their language does indeed mean “without.” It has been suggested that it means the opposite—that an Amazon was a woman with especially large breasts. Nor is there a single example in any museum of a drawing, amulet, or statue of a woman without her right breast, which should have been a common motif had the legend about breast amputation been based on fact.

Only a woman who had killed a man in battle was allowed to give up her virginity.

He reminded himself that she was a lesbian and consequently not a real woman.